Back to building?

E.J. Walsh III & Associates, the developer of the Village of Rose View, wants to finish the homes that they started in 2006 in the active adult 55-and-over community. They now want to complete the project with townhouses as opposed to the quads that were included in the original plan so revised plans must be submitted to the Penn Township Board of Supervisors.

At the Oct. 2 board of supervisors meeting, Ross Unruh represented the West Chester business that is comprised of several members of the Walsh family. The attorney noted that because the development is already largely constructed, they were asking the board to grant several waivers in regards to the submission of their revised plans.

The supervisors readily agreed to the first of the waivers which will allow the applicant to submit for preliminary and final land development concurrently.

Another waiver request related to sidewalks only being on one side of the street, as they are in the existing units. Again, the supervisors agreed to the waiver, but the mention of sidewalks brought up an ongoing issue with a section of the existing sidewalk that is underwater following any consequential rain storm.

“Something has to be addressed there,” insisted supervisor Victor Mantegna. “I’m not an engineer so I don’t know what.”

After a brief discussion as to the best way to address the problem, Matt Walsh said they would raise that area of sidewalk along Route 796 and this would be shown on the on the plans when they are re-submitted.

The supervisors were satisfied and approved the sidewalk waiver with the condition that the sidewalk repair to fix the ponding issue is included on the new plan.

There were several waiver requests related to the sewer and the supervisors had considerably more concerns about them.

Dan Becker, the Penn Township’s sewer consultant, had recently met with E.J. Walsh III & Associates, but he was not at the board meeting, nor had his findings been received in writing yet.

Both Curtis Mason, the chairman of the board, and Al Federico, the township’s engineer, expressed concerns about lateral pipes that will be abandoned in the revised plans and felt that Becker was the one who was qualified to make a decision as to whether or not it was prudent for them to grant the waivers.

Ross replied, “I didn’t understand from our meeting that [Dan Becker] had big problems. Then he added, “Basically, we don’t want to tear out what we’ve already constructed.”

The board voted, with Bill Finnen opposed and Robin Marcello abstaining, to grant the four waivers related to the sewer issues subject to Becker’s recommendation.

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